Figure 1.--This is an advertisement, probably from a trade journal for Warner's Perfection Unionettes. This was the company's name for a waist union suit. Notice all the strategically placed buttons. It was for boys 2-14 years of age. |
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We also notice the Warner's Perfection Unionettes. Warner was an important corset maker with operations daring back to the 19th century. Unionettes seems to have been the company's own name for a fairly standard waist union suit. They were made for boys up to age 14 years. School age boys at leastafter the first 2 years would have mostly worn knickers and long stockings with these waist union suits. Lengths for these garments tended to be long as boys mostly wore knickers and even short pants for younger boys were often longish. The waist union suits here were specifically for boys. We are sure the company also had a comparable style for girls. The ad specifies that they came six in abox. And as no price is pecified, we suggest that this was an ad for wholesale sale to stores rather than the consumer. I doubt if mothers tended to buy six at a time.
We note an interesting illustrated catalogue from Warner Brothers, the largest manufacturer of corsets in America in the 1880s and, according to their claim, the largest in the entire world. They exported corsets to England, Belgium, Germany, and other countries as well. Their headquarters was at 359 Broadway in New York and 257-259 State Street in Chicago. They also made underwear for men, women and children featuring "camel's hair" (for warmth obviously). They were very much into the production of "health underwear" for the entire family. The catalogue seems to be designed for retailers because they sell their products in dozens and in larger quantitites. The name of the firm seems to be named after a "Dr. Warner" whose credentials as an expert on health seem to have been promoted by the company. Their factory was located at Bridgeport, Connecticut, and they employed 1,200 workers and produced 7,000 corsets daily. Like several other corset companies, they also made stocking suporters for children.
Warner's was fundamentally a firm for the manufacture of women's corsets, but they also made a famous waist for boys and girls called "Warner's Perfection Waists" (slightly different versions for boys and girls but fulfilling the same function). The making of Unionettes or Waist Union Suits was a sideline.
We know this advertisement was published in 1922, but we dp not know where it appeared. The appearance suggests a magazine. These ads commonly appered in mass market magazines like Ladies Home Journal, but we do not know just where this one appeared. It may have been a trade journal rather than a mass market mgazine given that they are offered in boxes of six and prized by the dozen. A reader tells us, "The ad came from a trade journal called The Corset and Underwear Review (February, 1922, p. 59). These trade journals which are now being made available on line are a very valuable resource
because they give you an idea of what companies of boys and girls' clothing were especially keen to have their merchandise carried in major department and dry goods stores all over the country. If the manufacturer was purely local, he probably wouldn't bother or couldn't afford to advertise his goods in a national trade journal which would keep the product before the potential buyers in bulk. Some big time manufacturers, however, didn't seem to bother with advertising in trade
journals. I have never seen an ad for Hickory Garters and Garter Waists in a trade journal, for example, although they advertised
extensively all over the country in ordinary magazines and newspapers. Maybe this was because Hickory Garters and Garter Waists were so well known that Stein and Co. of Chicago didn't think trade journal advertising would be particularly profitable. Most mothers throughout the country already knew about and were buying this brand.
The waist union suit was similar to a regular union suit, but with features to support other garments such as pants and stockings. In the early 1920s the waist union suit was developed and remained popular until the 1940s. This garment (for both boys and girls up until about the age of 13) combined the basic one-piece union suit, the standard form of children's underwear, with the underwaist (with reinforcement straps, waist buttons, and garter tabs) so that a single garment could do duty for two. Wearing one layer rather than two made getting dressed easier, and mothers saved money by not having to buy both a union suit and an underwaist or garter waist. These suits were sometimes referred to as "combination suits." Waist union suits came in both summer and winter styles. The summer style was usually made of nainsook and was like a junior version of adult BVDs. It had short legs and was usually sleeveless so as to be cool.
The waist union suits here were specifically for boys. We are sure the company also had a comparable style for girls. And in fact, on an adjoining page of the February number of this issue of the Corset and Underwear Review, there is also an ad for the girls' model of Warner's Unionettes.
The age for the Unionettes was specified for boys age 2-14 years of age. The curious thing is that they are not wearing long stockings, but that is probably because the stockings would obstruct the view of the waist features a little bit. With waist union suits you could choose to wear long stockings or not. Younger boys might wear socks, but in 1922 older boys almost always would wear long stockings.
The ad specifies that they came six in abox. And as the price is specified for a dozen, this seems to be an ad for wholesale sale to stores rather than the consumer. I doubt if mothers tended to buy 6 or 12 at a time.
These boys in the ad here given their hair style were younger boys, perhaps pre-school boys or at least the first year or two of school. This is why thhy are puctured with socks rather than long stockings. While the photographic record dosn't tell us much about stocking supporters directtly, it does tell us about hosiery which indirectly tells us about stocking supporters. An especially good reflection of popular trends are the annual school portrits. Boys older than the ones pictured here would have mostly worn knickers and long stockings.
Here is the ad copy text for the Unionettes: "Warner's Perfection Unionettes, Style 75 for Boys. Warner's Perfection
Unionettes $8.00 Dozen. Even sizes, 2 to 14 years. One half-dozen in
the box. Body cloth and strippin of very high-grade pyjama check
[similar to "nainsook"]. boys' style 75 has double thickness of fabric
in the seat [i.e., three-button drop seat]. Bone buttons held with
double tapes and regular Perfection construction, with three rows of
stitching. Rustless invisible pin tubes [for pin-on supporters] that
will not slip sideways. Back hgas section of high grade stockinette
that washes well, and by its stretch saves pull on the buttons.
Reinforcement throughout with strips [i.e., reinforcement tapes over
the shoulders and under the arms], strong seams and standard Perfection
construction."
Warner Brothers, in addition to corsets, also manufactured a famous underwaist for boys and girls. These were called "Perfection Waists" and were widely advertised. They competed faily well with the Nazareth waists (another popular brand of children's knitted waists). The Perfection Waists were usually sold with pin-on supporters for long stockings already attached, whereas Nazareth sold their garter waists without garters. If you look at the illustration on the right, you can
see why the pin tubes for supporters are "invisible." They are located underneath a tab with a button for attaching short trousers so that the button almost covers up the pinning tube for the garters. One of the points of the garter tab besides its invisibility is the fact that the tape onto which it is sewed is sturdy and thick enough so that the garter pin won't pull it "sideways" and thus render the smoothness of the hose supporter on the upper leg uncomfortable and inefficient. There was a lot of pulling and downward pressure on garter tabs. If they weren't firmly attached to the waist and sewn onto very sturdy
webbing that would not twist and move, the hose supporters could slip at the mooring point and cause discomfort as well as fail to hold stockings smoothly in place.
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